For your everyday kitchen, custom wins on real total cost. IKEA shows a lower cabinet-box price, but the true comparison is the finished kitchen: cabinets, countertop, delivery, install, warranty. Add up time, coordination and durability, and the gap narrows, or flips the other way.
Key takeaways
- Never compare an IKEA cabinet box to a custom kitchen: the real comparison is the FINISHED kitchen (cabinets + countertop + delivery + install + warranty).
- Real total cost = price + time + effort + risk + after-sales. IKEA hides assembly time, trade coordination and fit adjustments.
- ALTO: one point of contact, local build, install, one warranty, RBQ 5806-4775-01 — a project run end to end, not six subcontractors.
- IKEA has its place: tight budget, DIYer, rental, cottage. For the home built to last, total value beats the entry price.
The real question isn't the price of the boxes
People love to line up a custom kitchen against an IKEA kitchen. Two prices, one obvious winner. Except that's the wrong match-up.
The number printed on a box of cabinets tells you almost nothing about what your kitchen will actually cost once it is finished. It leaves out the countertop, delivery, installation, trade coordination, adjustments and after-sales. Each has its price, and each adds up.
Most of all, it leaves out your time, your weekend, and the odds that a drawer stops closing right two years in. At ALTO, we look at the real total cost: price, time, effort, risk, and after-sales.
We won't price it here: your kitchen's price depends on your project, and it's set at the free in-home estimate. This article compares two ways to get there, not just the price.
The true comparison: the finished kitchen, not the box
An IKEA kitchen is an honest starting point. Cabinet boxes, fronts, hardware. Then the real work begins.
You measure, order, haul, assemble, and adjust. You line up an installer, a countertop shop, sometimes a plumber and an electrician. Each with their own invoice, each with their own schedule.
A custom ALTO kitchen is the opposite. One point of contact, from the drawing to the install. We design, we build locally, we install, we stand behind it. You follow one project, not six subcontractors.
The table that puts prices back in perspective
Here are the line items people forget when they only stare at the cabinet box. The ranges are indicative and shift with each kitchen.
| Line item | IKEA (assembled and installed) | ALTO custom |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet boxes and fronts | Low entry price | Included, built to measure |
| Countertop | Ordered separately | Coordinated within the project |
| Transport and delivery | On you | Handled by us |
| Assembly and installation | You, or a subcontractor to find | ALTO install, 5 to 10 days |
| Coordinating the trades | You are the site manager | One point of contact |
| Adjustments and touch-ups | On you | Planned, craftsman precision |
| Durability (hinges, boxes) | Fine for normal use | Built to last |
| After-sales and warranty | Split across suppliers | One warranty, RBQ 5806-4775-01 |
| Resale value | Modest | Lifts perceived value |
The left column isn't wrong. It's just incomplete until you add everything up.
IKEA's hidden costs (the ones you only see later)
The first hidden cost is your time. Assembling a full kitchen takes days. One weekend quietly turns into three.
The second is coordination. You become the site manager without ever signing up for it. One trade running late pushes all the others.
The third is the fit. No wall is ever perfectly straight, no floor perfectly level. Standard boxes don't forgive the quirks of a real house.
The last is lifespan. A hinge under daily strain eventually gives out. The replacement, the resale, the letdown: that belongs in the total too.
What custom spares you (and gives you)
Custom hugs your room to the millimetre. No filler panel to hide an awkward gap. No box cut crooked just to squeeze into place.
We work every corner. A dead angle becomes storage. An unusual height becomes an asset, not a compromise.
You choose the materials, the finishes, the hardware. We build in 4 to 8 weeks and install in 5 to 10 days. See how it works on our services page.
And you see the result before you commit. Our work lives in the portfolio.
So does IKEA still have its place?
Yes, and we'll say it plainly. IKEA makes sense in a few specific cases.
- A tight budget where every dollar counts first.
- A hands-on DIYer who enjoys assembling furniture.
- A rental unit where you want functional, not forever.
- A cottage or a secondary kitchen with light use.
In those situations, a boxed kitchen gets the job done. Nobody at ALTO will tell you otherwise.
But if it's your home, your everyday kitchen, the one that has to last and feel like you, the math shifts. Total value outweighs the entry price.
How to decide for your situation
Ask yourself three simple questions. What is your time worth this month? Are you comfortable coordinating several trades? Do you want this kitchen to last fifteen years or five?
If you enjoy managing and building, IKEA may suit you. If you want a project run end to end, with no surprises, custom will speak to you more.
At ALTO, we don't sell the cheapest box. We deliver the finished kitchen that costs you the fewest headaches. Compare the options and lines before you decide.
And if you're still on the fence, we'll look at your kitchen together, numbers in hand. One call is enough to see clearly.
A last word on the real cost
A kitchen isn't paid for once. It's paid in money, in time, and in peace of mind, year after year.
The price of a cabinet box is the start of the story, never the end. The real total cost reads across the whole life of the kitchen.
That's where a well-planned custom kitchen stops being an expense. It becomes an investment that elevates your home, and lasts.